oboe and euphonium
by not a straight trumpet
Summary: After everything, Natsuki visits Mizore.


**a/n:** natsuki and mizore's dynamic is something we don't see a ton of in canon, but i liked the idea of them being sort-of friends - natsuki is pretty friendly to her in liz. anyway, this is my first hibike fic since the kyoani fire, so i feel the need to say please pray for kyoani; my heart is with the victims and their families

* * *

Mizore played the piano.

Natsuki knew this - she'd become the sort of de facto background music during meetings, mostly so that she wouldn't be left out of the room as she spoke business with Yuuko and Nozomi, or whatever version of business they were play-acting at as high schoolers.

(Tsukamoto never did pay his taxes; Natsuki found this to be a satisfyingly easy way to add another strike against him)

(Yuuko hated him, too, mostly because while she bore no positive feelings towards Kumiko and therefore did not care what she did in her private life - compulsory heterosexuality notwithstanding - she felt protective by nature and would not stand around to let Reina watch her crush/cohort/lover enter a passionless relationship without her)

Anyway, Mizore played the piano, and all three other members of the so-called Minami Quartet knew it.

Which was why Natsuki was not surprised in the slightest when she came across her friend in a sultry sort of restaurant, a place with velvety drapes and velvety clothing - _upscale _was the only word for it - playing a piano. A big one, too, sleek and dark and kept in perfect condition.

"Hey," she said, giving Mizore a little salute. Mizore herself nodded slightly to acknowledge her arrival. "Fancy seeing you here."

"I invited you." Mizore kept playing as she spoke. Natsuki blinked.

"It was a joke."

"Oh."

"Anyway, how's it going? Music college, huh?"

"It's a lot of work." Mizore's fingers glided across the piano effortlessly, like water, like they were built for it.

(Natsuki found it a bit unfair that Mizore was so brilliant at not one but _two _instruments, but then again she herself wasn't bad at the guitar all things considered - or so Yuuko said - so it all evened out, really)

(Yuuko actually said that "you sound kind of okay, but work on it before we perform in front of actual people," but that was a compliment, coming from her)

(Both of them were rather terrible at showing affection, all things considered)

"The instructor isn't like Taki-sensei. She's an older woman."

"Hm. Cool." Natsuki tapped one bitten-down fingernail on the piano in a rhythm, careful not to let it actually make any noise. Mizore had never been one much for talking, but one could hardly refuse an invitation from an old friend, which was why Natsuki had shown up here. She'd figured - mistakenly, obviously - that Mizore had something to tell her. "Just wanted to see me, then?"

"Yes." Mizore kept her eyes on the sheet music. Natsuki only vaguely recognized the song - something common, something she heard a lot in passing. Maybe a pop song, maybe a classic. She couldn't tell.

"Is- are ya still together with Nozomi?" Natsuki cringed at her own words. She'd never known exactly what was going on with those two, but it was the closest thing to an out-in-the-open relationship anyone had in the band, so she wondered. Mizore didn't answer. "Right, anyway . . . nice gig you've got."

"Thank you."

"Don't you get tired between this and the oboe?"

"Not really."

"Right." Natsuki ran a hand through her hair, a nervous habit she'd picked up sometime over the past few years. It beat destroying her fingers with the euphonium, at least. "Great . . . seeing ya."

"You too." Mizore turned back to her piano.

"That's it, then?"

"More or less." Mizore wouldn't make eye contact again. Natsuki gulped. They'd been like . . . friends-in-law, of a sort - Yuuko was friends with Mizore, and Natsuki was friends with Nozomi, so the four of them were thrown together often. Still, she'd never known Mizore all that well, and most of their conversations ended up like this as a result.

"It was, ah, nice to see ya?" _I'm repeating myself._ "See you around?"

"I'll see you." Mizore was lost in the world of the piano again, it seemed. Natsuki turned away, started to leave, when she heard her name through the din. "Natsuki?"

"Yeah?"

"How are you and Yuuko doing?"

_Oh._ "Oh. We're doing fine, I guess? Starting a band - not much has come out of it yet but it's a fun sorta side gig. Since we're at the same university and all."

"That must be nice."

"It is." Yuuko's feelings for Mizore were the same kind of open secret as the ones she'd harbored for Kaori - Natsuki pretended she didn't know she was the third choice, but she still knew, and she still knew that whatever Mizore had said to her the day she made up with Nozomi still stung. Yuuko cared more about other people than they cared about her, that was all, and that was why she had such a prickly exterior. Natsuki understood - tried to understand - and all of this was running through her head right then because out of their weird little quartet she was the one least close to Mizore, so why had she called her here?

"Do you love her?"

"What? Yeah. Yeah, I think so." Natsuki felt her shoes sinking into the carpeted floor, just a little bit. "You've got my number if ya need anything. I'm always around."

"Thank you."

She left, then, because the conversation had exhausted itself, like, ten minutes ago, and because Mizore really was great at the piano, and she seemed happy, in her own way.

* * *

"How'd the meeting with Mizore go?" Yuuko lounged on the top bunk, the one that neither of them ever actually used for sleeping, twirling a limp ribbon around in her fingers. Natsuki still wasn't completely used to seeing the top of her head, even after half a year of living together.

"She's . . . fine. Doing well, I think."

"That's good." Yuuko was very quiet, then, and Natsuki waited for her to say something else. "It's late. Are you coming to bed soon?"

"Ha," Natsuki snorted. Yuuko bristled, indignant.

"What's so funny?"

"Ya sound like an old lady. 'Are you coming to bed, dear? Mightn't I make you a cup of tea to ease your aching bones?' Oh, that's rich." Yuuko threw a pillow at her. "Ow."

"How's that for aching bones?"

"More like aching face."

"Your face has bones."

"I guess." Natsuki set the pillow down on the bottom bunk. "Anyway, you're right."

"Yes, your face does have bones. Glad to know you're at least aware of that."

"Are you gonna let me actually have a moment here, or make fun of me for another hour? It's your decision"

"Great question." Yuuko leaned forward, kissed her on the lips from her precarious spot. Natsuki smirked a little. "Keep going."

"Just . . . she's lonely." Natsuki looked out the window, at the scattering of the brightest stars that could still be seen in the city. "She misses Nozomi."

"They're still together, you know." Yuuko flipped over, her hair dangling off the edge of the bed. Thoughtlessly, Natsuki carded her hands through it. "Long-distance or something. It works for them."

"Okay." Natsuki felt more relieved than she'd have expected - she hardly knew Mizore, really, when it all came down to it. Still, it made her heart feel lighter. "I'm gonna sleep now."

"Wait for me." Yuuko hopped off the top bunk, dropping clumsily into the bottom. Natsuki chuckled.

"'Course I will, Ribbons."

"Asshole."

"Prick."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

* * *

**a/n: **reach out to your loved ones - it's a tough time but we'll all make it through together, i hope.


End file.
